The ABC has denied making a "contemptuous attempt to prejudice the jury" in the Parliament House rape case, insisting it fairly reported a speech by the alleged victim.
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The broadcaster makes the assertion in its defence to a defamation claim filed against it by Bruce Lehrmann, who denies raping fellow former Liberal Party staffer Brittany Higgins.
Mr Lehrmann stood trial in the ACT Supreme Court last year, but the jury was discharged without reaching a verdict and the charge levelled at him was subsequently discontinued.
He has since launched civil action against a host of media defendants, including the ABC.
In a statement of claim filed in the Federal Court last month, Mr Lehrmann's lawyers accused the ABC of defaming him by broadcasting a speech Ms Higgins delivered at the National Press Club before the trial.
Alongside sexual assault survivor Grace Tame, Ms Higgins began her address with the words: "I was raped on a couch in what I thought was the safest and most secure building in Australia."
She later took part in a question and answer-style session with journalists at the February 2022 event.
Her comments were broadcast on the ABC's television and YouTube channels to hundreds of thousands of viewers, some of whom were ACT residents and prospective jurors.
Mr Lehrmann's lawyers allege this made the broadcast "an apparent contemptuous attempt to prejudice the jury before whom the proceedings were being heard".
While Ms Higgins did not name Mr Lehrmann, his lawyers claim it was "notorious throughout Australia" that he was the man charged with sexually assaulting her.
The lawyers argue Mr Lehrmann was therefore identifiable to "a significant number" of people, who would have believed, as a result of the ABC's coverage, that he had in fact raped Ms Higgins.
In its defence, filed on Thursday and released by the Federal Court on Friday, the ABC claims Mr Lehrmann failed to adequately outline his concerns in a legal notice.
The broadcaster says the proceedings are therefore "not competent and should be dismissed".
Otherwise, the ABC raises a number of defences to Mr Lehrmann's lawsuit.
They include "innocent dissemination" of comments the network could not have foreseen while broadcasting an event of public concern.
As a live, uninterrupted and unedited broadcast, the ABC also defends its coverage as a "fair report" of the occasion.
Significantly, the national broadcaster says it does not admit its coverage of the National Press Club event was "of and concerning Lehrmann".
In his statement of claim, Mr Lehrmann speaks of suffering "serious harm" as a result of the ABC's actions.
But in its response, the broadcaster rejects this assertion by saying he was not named and he did not raise any complaint with the ABC until almost a year after the event.
The ABC goes on to say that if it was "notorious throughout Australia" that Mr Lehrmann was the man accused of raping Ms Higgins, people who already knew his name were unlikely to change their views about him as a consequence of the broadcast.
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According to the defence documents, the ABC made an unspecified offer to "make amends" with Mr Lehrmann in early April.
Mr Lehrmann did not respond to the letter and sued the day after it was sent.
The matter is due back in court next month for a case management hearing.
All four are defending the claims, which are due to go to trial in November.
